Gender - Easy Learning Grammar German

In German a noun can be masculine, feminine or neuter. Gender is quite unpredictable – the best thing is simply to learn each noun with its definite article, that is the word for the (der, die or das) which goes with it:

derTeppich

carpet

dieZeit

time

dasBild

picture

However, there are some clues which can help you work out or remember the gender of a noun, as explained below.

1Masculine nouns

Nouns referring to male people and animals are masculine.

derMann

man

derLöwe

(male) lion

Seasons, months, days of the week, weather and points of the compass are masculine.

derSommer

summer

derAugust

August

derFreitag

Friday

derWind

wind

derNorden

north

Most nouns referring to things that perform an action are also masculine.

derWecker

alarm clock

derComputer

computer

Grammar Extra!German nouns taken from other languages and ending in -ant, -ast, -ismus, and -or are masculine:

derPassant

passer-by

derBallast

ballast

derKapitalismus

capitalism

derTresor

safe

Nouns with the following endings are masculine.

Masculine Ending

Example

Meaning

-ich

derTeppich

carpet

-ig

derEssig

vinegar

-ling

derFrühling

spring

Key points

Nouns referring to male people and animals are masculine.

Seasons, months, days of the week, weather and points of the compass are masculine.

2Feminine nouns

Most nouns ending in -e are feminine.

dieFalte

crease, wrinkle

dieBrücke

bridge

Note that male people or animals ending in -e are masculine, and, nouns beginning with Ge- and ending in -e are normally neuter.

derLöwe

lion

das Getreide

crop

Nouns with the following endings are feminine.

Feminine Ending

Example

Meaning

-heit

dieSchönheit

beauty

-keit

dieSehenswürdigkeit

sight

-schaft

dieGewerkschaft

trade union

-ung

dieZeitung

newspaper

-ei

dieBäckerei

bakery

Grammar Extra!German nouns taken from other languages and ending in -anz, -enz, -ie, -ik, -ion, -tät, -ur are feminine, with some exceptions.

die Distanz

distance

BUT: derKranz

wreath

die Konkurrenz

rivalry

die Theorie

theory

BUT: dasKnie

knee

die Panik

panic

BUT: derPazifik

Pacific

die Union

union

BUT: derSpion

spy

die Elektrizität

electricity

die Temperatur

temperature

BUT: dasAbitur

A levels

Numbers used in counting, for example one, three, fifty are feminine.

Er hateineDrei gekriegt.

He got a three.

In German, there are sometimes very different words for male and female, just as in English.

derMann

man

dieFrau

woman

derVater

father

dieMutter

mother

derBulle

bull

dieKuh

cow

Many masculine German nouns can be made feminine by adding -in in the singular and -innen in the plural.

der Lehrer

(male) teacher

die Lehrerin

(female) teacher

Lehrer und Lehrerinnen

(male and female) teachers

der Leser

(male) reader

die Leserin

(female) reader

unsere Leser und Leserinnen

our readers

Grammar Extra!Some German adjectives are used as feminine nouns. They have feminine adjective endings which change according to the article which comes before them.